20/07/2003: Napster... Grokster... Kazaa... what next for the labels?:	Ron
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I noticed on Grokster (a file sharing piece of software like Napster, but not just for music) that the most ironic of ironies has happened. The industry bodies, having lost part one of the legal challenge to have them shut down, have decided to become users of the system in order to send instant message to it's other users! Here's what they say in Grokster: "If you have received an Instant Message (IM) warning you that you can be easily identified and face legal penalties, it is the result of our recent victory in the lawsuit brought by the Recording Association of America (RIAA). The RIAA has elected to utilize Grokster's built-in tools to send these messages to our users. As you know, Grokster does not have any control over what content (be it files or IM messages) its users exchange. The RIAA has chosen to become one of our users, and to use our software to combat illegal file sharing. If you have any complaints, please direct them to the RIAA (www.riaa.org)." Now, isn't it ironic that the RIAA uses the system it wants to shut down, in order to do something perfectly legal, while assuming that everyone else is doing something illegal? I doubt they would spot the irony in that!

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